Lauderdale-By-The-Sea ~ why yes please, it sounds like heaven to me! A charming seaside village on the barrier island just north of Fort Lauderdale and minutes from the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport. With ocean views, this community has managed to capture and keep its small town charm. A motto of: “Relax . . . You’re here”, how can one not fall in love with this beautiful community?!A mix of shops, restaurants, and a beautiful wooden Angeline’s Pier, this village appeals to all. Friday and Saturday evenings you will find tourist and towns people listening and dancing to the bands play at the local street party. Here people say hello and are friendly, and even though it is a tourist location, there is a genuine kindness.

This I found out prior to my travel. With a wonderful gift of visiting one of my favorite states (especially in escape of our Winters), I had the chore of finding a location. Now, I will tell you, as most of you may know, when it comes to beach towns, you run the risk of getting what you pay for. The streets are often filled with Mom and Pop motels - some wonderful and some not so much. There are beautiful hotels, rentals, and options to take into consideration and of course, high season means high prices. This trip was quite a planning experience for me. We had the dates, we knew we were not renting a vehicle so we needed to be within walking distance to stores, and we would like a pool or at least to be able to walk to the ocean. I sent out hundreds of requests (yes, seriously) from South to North. I was truly beginning to think it just wasn’t going to happen and I really didn’t want to go on a vacation and sit beside a highway in a run down establishment with no pool, too far to walk anywhere and just waiting to go back home.

I believe in good things and good people and I have had the pleasure of many on this trip. Here is where my excitement begins . . . YOU SHOULD SEE THIS NEW PLACE (just please leave a room open for me)! Hotel Seacrest ~ absolutely, without a doubt, is AMAZING!!! Do you remember when I said you get what you pay for? You will get far, far, more than what you could ever imagine. Please keep in mind I have stayed in outstanding places where I was simply a paying customer - here, I was a guest in this beautiful boutique and what a pleasure it was!

We arrived early afternoon and were welcomed with that ever present warmth of the sun and our ride to Hotel Seacrest. Within a short time we were transported to the most luxurious establishment in what I call - Bliss! Tropical landscaping, a crystal clear pool in a beautifully designed courtyard with stylish loungers, seating areas, and our poolside room. Welcome to the King Suite in which I will tell you is definitely made for a king! Luxurious linens with textiles professionally sewn differently for each of the available five designer rooms. Travertine marble flooring, granite countertops (complete with glass cook tops), custom headboards, a refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave, dishware, cookware and utensils, a wine rack and even an ice bucket. The rooms are beautifully furnished from the tables to the lamps, an alarm clock with I-phone docking, cd/dvd players and individual air conditioners with remotes. Walking into the bathroom I discovered the shower from my dreams of open glass with mosaic tile and rain heads complete with luxurious soft and plentiful towels. I should mention that this vacation surprisingly took place during the Super Bowl - but no worries for my husband was elated with the 46” wall mounted flat-screen LCD swivel television!

In opting not to rent a vehicle, I couldn’t had been more happy to see that truly everything was within walking distance and sight. Down the street for groceries along with shops for liquor, salons, restaurants, ice-cream, a drugstore, dollar store, donuts, subs and more. Down the other street was our ocean and I commend the city on what a wonderful job they did with their public areas. At the entrance of the beach you have beautiful landscaping, Adirondack chairs with umbrellas and even pavilions, each complete with water towers to wash the sand from you. What a wonderful place to sit, have a cup of coffee and just watch the world go by.

By evening we decided for a quiet evening in with a simple meal, and imagine our delight to sit poolside within this lovely lit oasis. We were transported with the beauty of their state of the art pool glowing in its LED light show and the graceful in-ground fountains flowing into the pool. The white lights dappled the landscaping making for a perfect evening, and each evening thereafter!

Our first evening out to relax beachside was a quick walk to Aruba Beach Café. With seating right on the beach, there didn’t seem to be a better way to start our vacation than with a Hawaiian Cosmopolitan ~ a wonderful mix of Sky Pineapple Vodka, Triple Sec and Cranberry Juice, Caribbean Conch Chowder (a spicy tomato based soup with conch, vegetables and corn, Pizza San Remo (a 12” white cheese pizza with mozzarella, goat cheese and roma tomatoes) and Bimini Bread with Aruba Glaze served with shipped honey butter. Let’s just say this trip was definitely going in the right direction!

Now we were ready for the street music and stopped at Ocean 101 for a cocktail located on a busy corner 50 yards from the fishing pier. Sporting a huge indoor/outdoor bar, a beautiful indoor fish tank and waterfalls this was perfect for people watching and listening to music before venturing back to one of the most restful sleeps in our heavenly Sterns and Foster bed and it’s luxurious linens - did I mention the 600 thread sheet count and freshly laundered and hand steamed?!After a perfect week of rest, relaxation, lots of sight seeing, walks, breakfast while sitting in the open air at our private patio,

we decided to end our last outing at Athena By The Sea, a Mediterranean Greek restaurant that also serves American choices in a beautifully newly renovated open air restaurant.

Starting with a pitcher of their homemade Sangria with fermenting fruit overnight, Saganaki (flaming cheese) with pita bread, Zucchini Strips, Lamb Kabobs over rice and my husband - Spaghetti and Keftedes (Meatballs). I know, so not Greek - but the meatballs were a meal on their own.

Excellent service and I was impressed that when I had stopped by earlier and spoken with Luciana that she remembered me several hours later and was a wonderful waitress. Every empty dish was promptly removed and everyone there seemed to pitch in and help one another. I also was impressed that our leftovers were removed from the table and packaged up and returned to us. Note to self - at several restaurants, although it states that a 18% service gratuity will be added to parties of 10 or more, I did notice many times that our gratuity already added into our bill. Needless to say, I think I may have made a couple happy waitresses.To get around easier, the city offers a free community shuttle, the Pelican Hopper with hours of operation Monday thru Friday 9 AM to 5:25 PM (although their flyer states 8:30 AM to 5 PM), Saturday 10 AM to 7:55 PM, and Sunday 8 AM to 6 PM visit their website for further information and for their map and timetable. Lauderdale By The Sea is definitely for me. It’s quaint and quiet. It’s easily accessible and being a walker, a perfect location. I don’t usually write about my personal travels, but this was such an experience that I had to share with you. The owners at Hotel Seacrest have done an extraordinary job in remodeling this hidden gem along with their amazing personal service. Would I look further into staying someplace else on my next visit? Absolutely not! Visiting here with the beauty, outstanding customer service, cutting edge and luxury perfectly mixed together - it’s like being transported to that “Bliss” and I can’t wait to visit again! Our many thanks for such a wonderful and memorable trip!!!Here's a sneak peak into another room. Be sure to visit Hotel Seacrest for even more amazing photos and booking information!

This truly is an amazing place to kick back and relax. The city is wonderful. Hotel Seacrest is a perfect place to stay at because of the location and the amazing upgrades the owners have made to this little oasis. Amy did a wonderful job locating and suggesting staying at Lauderdale by the Sea and Hotel Seacrest . We will be back to visit this little gem and our new found friends from Hotel Seacrest. Special thanks to All the staff. John, Anthony, Carol and Anthony.l

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About MeI'm Amy ~ Owner/CEO of TWIG TRAVEL & EVENTS. Creating my business was probably more fun than work due to my intense love of travel, weddings and any type of celebration . . . just some of my many obsessions."I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles."

My indulgences are many, but other than travel, I love creating, planning ~ be it travel or a beautiful dinner party. I hold close to my heart ~ my family, our dogs, fashion, crème brulle, quotes, writing, laughter and listening to it rain. You'll most likely find me sitting on the ocean with my toes dug in the sand in my free time just listening to the ocean waves. I hope you enjoy and become inspired of all the places to see and things to do!

Disclaimer ~ The content on this site, unless specified, is my work. I will always try to give credit and/links back to the site it was found in.